


Wait By The River

by Calmasis_1025



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Historical, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23798032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calmasis_1025/pseuds/Calmasis_1025
Summary: After watching the woman she loves dance with her fiance, Faith escapes to the river where she finds the clarity she needs.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 2





	Wait By The River

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY FUCK I NEED TO WRITE MORE. Well, I should be able too soon, especially after the semester is over. First off, I tried to set this in around early 18th century America, but I know I didn't do well on that, so if there's tons of inaccuracies I'm sorry, I just needed to get this one out before it just stuck in my drafts forever. I'm referencing a song in the title, idk why but it always gave me vivid lesbian daydreams and that's what I based this story off of. Anyway, thanks for clicking on my story, and I hope you enjoy!

_ I will wait by the river _

_ In the light of the moon _

_ At the edge of the city _

_ I will wait for you _

_ \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _

Faith watched as Elise twirled gracefully to the music. Her bright purple dress flared out with the spin, catching everyone’s attention. Faith wondered how they weren’t already staring. Elise’s skin sparkled in the moonlight, she moved with such poise, her laugh was radiant. Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders in curls, and her hazel eyes shined with happiness Faith wondered if she was an angel.

Faith snapped out of her wondering after she saw Elise fall into the arms of her betrothed, Isaiah. She had forgotten that Elise was going to marry the devil himself this summer.

_That’s a little harsh,_ _he isn’t that bad._ Faith thought to herself, still glowering at the couple. Something about him made her angry. She could never figure out what it was. Something about the way he always was near her, always kept his hands on her, enraged her to no end. Sometimes she just needed to be alone with her friend, but that was so hard to do, especially now that Elise wouldn’t meet her at night. It hurt when Elise had told her. So many nights they had poured their hearts out for each other, talking about everything that had happened. Now that she was engaged, she stopped visiting at night, and in the daylight she pretended Faith never existed. Faith tried to pretend like everything was fine, but her disappearance was crushing. It had left a hole inside her, making her feel as if she was rotting from the inside out.

Faith tried to ignore the ring hanging around her own neck. The ring was much too big for her hands, but she couldn’t just reject it. Her betrothed was too nice, too sweet for her parents to even consider rejecting any gift he gave her. And if she rejected his proposal, her parents would have tried her for being a witch without a second thought. It was exhausting, and while she knew her engagement differed from the rest, every passing day the necklace she wore felt more like a chain.

Her scowl was noticed by Elise, who had replied with a confused glance. Faith knew that it was trouble to stay there, so she got off the barrel she was perched on and went off to find someone to talk to, something to do, anything except stare wistfully at the couples dancing. The bonfire crackled and roared with heat. It would be nice to feel the warmth of the flames as the last winds of winter whipped around her, but it was surrounded by men, most of whom were probably drunk. Not the best place to go. She kept looking and found her mother. She was sitting with her friends, laughing and joking near the band. She made her way over there, keeping her head down to avoid seeing anyone.

She ended up slamming right into the chest to her own husband-to-be, Jonathan. He caught her before she hit the ground.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Faith apologized while pulling out of his grip.

“Don’t worry.” Jonathan said, gaze pointed at the ground. Eye contact was never his strong suit. “Would you like to dance with me?”

Faith paused, trying to think of an excuse to get out of it. She couldn’t think of one. “Of course.” Jonathon seemed surprised by her answer, but still led her to the other couples and started to dance.

Faith felt her hands in Jonathan’s. His hands were rough, connected to strong arms, both coming from years of farming, and yet he was still so gentle, making sure that she was comfortable. This should’ve sparked something in her, she just knew it. Instead of the fires of passion that were sparked in every other girl she knew, the universe left her with a frigid heart. She had tried to blame it on his shy demeanor, or the fact that he never looked at her, but no other woman minded. Hell, even Elise had eyes for Jonathan. She even told Faith about it one morning. It was one of the only times Elise talked to her in the morning, and she had kept it with her ever since.

Faith was so enraptured by her own thinking that she didn’t notice where she was stepping. Jonathan let out a grunt as her foot stepped onto his.

“I’m so sorry!” Faith exclaimed as she stepped off of his foot. Some dancers looked to see what all of the commotion was.

Jonathan chuckled. “Don’t worry, I didn’t even feel it.” He said loud enough that the people staring could hear. Once they all looked away, Jonathan started to whisper in Faith’s ear.

“I should be able to get the wagon ready tonight, do you have everything packed?”

“Yes.” Faith whispered, as the weight of her necklace lifted off her shoulders. This plan was the only thing keeping her afloat. Tonight, after everyone had gone to bed, she and Jonathan would leave town. It would look like a simple eloping to everyone else, but Faith knew that they would go their separate ways. She would finally get the freedom she deserved.

“Good.” Jonathan smiled as they continued dancing. Faith kept her eyes on Elise, never wavering, while Jonathan sight bounced from one man to the next. After a song, Jonathan finally spoke up.

“Do you want to keep dancing?” Jonathan asked.

Faith didn’t have the energy to lie anymore. She stopped staring at Elise. “No, not really. I’d rather not be at this party at all.”

“Thank the heavens.” Johnathan let out a sigh of relief. “I’m going back home to get everything ready, where are you going to be?”

“I will be by the river,” Faith replied “But I’ll meet you on the west edge of town.”

“Ok.” Johnathan said, and they both went their separate ways.

Faith took the fastest route she knew to the river. She trampled through the forest. Her dress tore, but she didn’t care for that dress anyway. She didn’t care for any dress particularly, and now she only cared about getting to the river. She practically sprinted through the trees until she finally made it to the one place that kept her safe. She found the river at last and moved out to a small dock on the edge of it.

The river was huge and winding and looked as if it could go on forever, but tonight it was calm, with the water reflecting the night sky above. If Faith squinted hard enough, she could almost imagine the stars flowing down the river forever. Lucky things. They weren’t submitted to the random game of chance of marriage, and then having to prepare to leave their whole life behind just so that they could have their own lives, albeit completely alone. They could just leave and stay with one another, and Faith couldn’t hide her jealousy any longer. She wanted to scream at the stars, at everything that had pushed her to this point. The world had ruined every chance she had, and now her one freeing move didn’t feel real. So she crouched down on the dock, shoved her head into the water, and screamed her lungs out. She didn’t make a sound and the cold water froze her head, but the relief she felt was incredible. She pulled out for a moment to catch her breath and went right back to screaming.

A hand on her shoulder interrupted her screaming session. She pulled out of the river and whirled around to see who was there.

“Wh-” Faith saw Elise crouching down, wearing plainclothes. She looked worried. “Elise? What are you- Did you change?” The words came out of Faith’s mouth in a jumble.

“Are you okay?” Elise replied, ignoring her questions.

The heat of embarrassment hit her cheeks, warming them after her frozen plunge. “Yes, I was just… screaming.” Elise only replied with concern in her face. “It helped get out some frustrations, although now it’s incredibly embarrassing.”

Elise sat down next to her facing the river. Faith shifted to face her. “I might join you then. I have a lot of frustrations to get out.”

“Why?” Faith asked. “You seemed thrilled with Isaiah. And why did you change?”

The world stopped for a moment. The crickets stopped chirping, the band stopped playing, and for a moment, the river seemed to stop flowing. Everything waited for Elise to respond, and after finally breaking down the walls she put up so carefully.

“Faith, I have to tell you something.” Elise said Faith couldn’t respond before she continued “Elise is my sister. My name is Maria. We’ve been pretending to be the same person since we moved here.”

Faith didn’t know what to do, or even what to say. There were two of them? That was possible? Questions swirled in her mind until she reached one thought that wasn’t a question. Maria had been lying to her, and she might have been lying about other things. They had spent so many nights together, but who knows how much of that was real anymore.

“That explains the mole on your ear.” Faith said while she was thinking. Maria laughed and pulled her into a big hug, which took Faith out of her own mind.

“Why go through all this trouble?” Faith asked.

“If Maria and Elise both exist, then they both have to get married. If there’s only Elise, then only one of us has to get married. It was something we did as kids, and we just never stopped. This way I can avoid men like Isaiah, for now.” 

Faith’s necklace felt so heavy that it would fall through the dock and drown her. She felt the same way that Faith had all these years, but now she had to see Faith go down the road she was only barely missing.

Maria continued with a hint of sadness in her voice. “You and Jonathan will make a good couple.” 

“Yes, we will.” Faith lied. Something inside her couldn’t tell Maria what was truly going on. Faith and Maria both got up and Faith put her hands on Maria’s shoulders. “Thank you for telling me. I have to go.” Faith only saw the beginnings of a frown begin before she ran off to her house.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ If I can't change the weather _

_ Maybe I can change your mind _

_ If we can't be together _

_ What's the point of life _

**\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Faith couldn’t sleep. Not that she should’ve been sleeping anyway, but a couple hours of shut eye wouldn’t hurt, except Faith couldn’t even have that. Her eyes stayed open. Pondering her whole life. How much was Maria lying to her? Were all conversations fake? They couldn’t be. That wasn’t possible. Maria said too many personal things. Right?

Throughout her worrying, Faith couldn’t get Maria’s face out of her mind. The way the moonlight illuminated her face was just enough to see her blush. It shouldn’t have been possible, but Maria was prettier than Elise could ever be.

Faith stopped trying to fall asleep and instead decided to just meet Jonathan early. She grabbed everything she wanted to take with her and crept out of her house, being careful to not make a sound, and went to the edge of town. A wagon was on the road. It was easy to see, but Faith didn’t mind, as long as they left early enough. However, Jonathan was nowhere to be found. Faith didn’t see anyone and only heard some noise coming from the woods. She put her things into the wagon and walked into the forest to investigate.

It didn’t take long for her to find Jonathan, but Jonathan didn’t find her. He was too busy kissing another man. Faith couldn’t believe her eyes. Her whole life she almost never saw Jonathan touch anybody and now here he was, locking lips with another man. Faith gasped without thinking, which the couple heard. Jonathan immediately pulled away and turned towards Faith.

“Faith! I- I- I’m sorry I shouldn’t” Jonathan apologized, tears forming in his eyes.

“No! You didn't do anything wrong!” Faith interrupted. She then turned to the other man. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“Names Peter.” the man replied. He reached out his hand, which Faith shook. “I passed through here a couple of months ago, met Jonathan, and stuck around.”

Faith nodded, as her life got fully re-contextualized around her. Everything was different now. She turned back to Jonathan.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“Know what?” he replied.

“That you and him, you... loved each other.” She forced out.

“It wasn’t easy, and I only made the connection because Peter was so upfront, but I realized that every time I thought about my life, he was there. I knew that I couldn’t make a life for myself without him.”

“DAMMIT!” Faith screamed. It all made sense now. “I have to go, I’ll be back shortly.” Faith said. She took her necklace off and threw it to Peter. “I think you should have this, I’ll make my own pair.”

She turned away from the two shocked faces and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She turned down one dark street, then another until she saw the house she wanted., the one closest to the river. She crept up to the door, and against her better judgement, raised her fist to pound on it. Before she could knock however, someone caught her arm. 

“Faith, what are you doing? You’re going to wake the dead!” Maria said in a panicked whisper.

“Oh thank god Maria,” Faith stopped to catch her breath. “I need to tell you something, but first I have to ask. Is it just marriage that made you pretend to be your sister?”

“Yes, that’s it.” Maria hesitated. Faith kept staring. “Okay that isn’t it.”

“I will never get the life I want.” Maria continued “It’s impossible. At least here I can pretend things are going well.”

“But they aren’t.” Faith said.

“No!” Maria cried out. Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t win! No matter what I do I’m going to be forced to marry some beast of a man, and I’ll never be able to love him.” Maria clasped her hands over her mouth, trying to pretend she didn’t let out a secret. “I’ll never see you again...”

“I understand.” Faith said, as she took Maria’s hands in her’s. She didn’t notice how that one little act took Maria’s breath away. “I’ve been agonizing over the thought of not seeing you again for years, even when I didn’t know it was you. I couldn’t bear it. But I don’t think we have to anymore!”

“That can’t be true. You’re getting married in a week.” Maria said.

“Jonathan and I aren’t getting married. We’re leaving tonight, pretending to elope, and he has another man with him. I’m free.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Maria asked.

Faith looked down at both of their hands. She couldn’t believe she had gotten this far, and all it took was a little more. “Every time I imagined my life, I couldn’t see it happening without you there with me. Please, come with me. We can find our way together.” Faith pleaded.

Maria couldn’t move. All she could do was stand there in open mouthed shock. However, her shocked face slowly turned into a smile, and she pulled Faith into a hug, sobbing tears of joy. “I’ve wanted nothing more.

They stayed there for a while hugging and basking in the joy of not being alone. “Do you need to get anything before we leave?” Faith asked.

Maria stared at the house that had trapped her for so long. “There’s nothing in there worth grabbing. Let’s go.”

They stopped hugging, held each other’s hand, and ran. Ran away from the town that tried to keep them, and towards a life that no matter how rocky things got, would be okay, because they had each other.


End file.
